The Fiscal Autonomy of Thai Local Administrative Organizations

Abstract

Decentralization of fiscal power, therefore, results in local authorities having decision-making power in managing their missions and budgets in terms of tax mechanisms and expenditure budgets that are more consistent with the context of each locality. The local government is the agency that is closest to the people and the community and plays an important role in improving the quality of life of the people in many dimensions. This research aims to the fiscal autonomy of Thai local administrative organizations Its objective is to study the fiscal autonomy of Thai local administrative organizations by considering the income structure under the Determining Plan and Process of Decentralization Act B.E.2542 (1999). The researcher uses a qualitative research approach and using content analysis. The study results found that the income of Thai local administrative organizations as a whole tends to continue to increase both in terms of amount and proportion to government revenue. But on the other hand, found the income most of them, are received from subsidies and taxes allocated by the government, totaling about 90 percent of total income. Although there is a tendency to increase every year, the proportion of local revenues collected by themselves, totals about 10 percent, reflecting the local fiscal health as a lack of fiscal autonomy, especially in the field of revenue collection.